Wilderness.org - Clean Water Acthttp://wilderness.org/taxonomy/term/2547
enNo More Slash and Burn Budgeting: The Green Budget Takes a Smarter Approachhttp://wilderness.org/blog/no-more-slash-and-burn-budgeting-green-budget-takes-smarter-approach
<div class="field-group-format group_meta field-group-div group-meta speed-fast effect-none"><div class="field field-name-post-date field-type-ds field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Mar 4, 2011</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-node-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/bios/vice-presidents/kitty-thomas">Kitty Thomas</a></div></div></div></div><div class="field-group-format group_image field-group-div group-image speed-fast effect-none"><div class="field field-name-field-content-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="http://wilderness.org/sites/default/files/styles/blog_full/public/legacy/profiler/icicle-canyon-WenatcheeForest-Washington-USFS.jpg?itok=JipFgO_q" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-video field-type-file field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"></div></div><div class="field field-name-media-description field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-credit field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"></div></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p>
In the wake of the House Majority&rsquo;s extreme budget bill, which made severe cuts to conservation, it&rsquo;s clear that we need a better blueprint for the budget going forward.&nbsp; The Wilderness Society, working together with a host of other conservation groups, has created that blueprint with the <a href="http://www.prweb.com/releases/protectenvironment/03/prweb5138244.htm">release of the Green Budget</a>.</p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.prweb.com/releases/protectenvironment/03/prweb5138244.htm">Read the group release on the Green Budget</a></p>
<p>
This budget doesn&rsquo;t take a slash-and-burn approach to budgeting.&nbsp; Instead of cutting programs back, or even zeroing them out, the Green Budget looks uses smart investments to strengthen public health and economic growth.&nbsp; That smarter approach includes eliminating subsidies for wealthy oil and gas companies in order to fund investments in protections for land and natural resources. It would also take $900 million from offshore drilling revenues and investment it in the Land and Water Conservation Fund to protect hunting and fishing access, provide outdoor recreation, and strengthen local economies.</p>
<p>
This kind of smarter, greener budgeting has never been more important or more urgent.&nbsp; The House Majority&rsquo;s bill, which passed in February, is a severe assault on wildlands, wildlife, and our environment.&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Now attention turns to the Senate, where, if the same cuts are passed, we will see severe slashing of the EPA&rsquo;s ability to limit greenhouse gases and the Bureau of Land Management&rsquo;s new Wild Lands policy, which restores protections to millions of acres of wilderness quality lands across the West.</p>
<p>
Help us stop this severe assault on wildlands, wildlife, and the environment.&nbsp; Urge your senators to stand firmly for the environment and to urge the Senate to stand firm against these cuts.&nbsp; If passed, this radical legislation would:</p>
<ul>
<li>
block the Interior Department&rsquo;s new policy that restores protection to millions of acres of wilderness-quality public lands across the West;</li>
<li>
cut the EPA&rsquo;s budget by 30 percent and cripple the agency&rsquo;s ability to reduce greenhouse gases that endanger public health and contribute to global warming;</li>
<li>
slash the Land and Water Conservation Fund by 87 percent;</li>
<li>
eliminate $1.2 billion in science funding needed to move away from fossil fuels towards sustainable, non-polluting sources of energy;</li>
<li>
prohibit the EPA from enforcing Clean Water Act protections for thousands of American streams and wetlands;</li>
<li>
eliminate the North America Wetlands Conservation Fund;</li>
<li>
open up national forests to greater damage by ORVs.</li>
<li>
cut 50 percent from current cleanup efforts in the Chesapeake Bay, Puget Sound, Long Island Sound, Great Lakes and Lake Champlain;</li>
<li>
eliminate all funding for the Forest Legacy Program, which restores ecosystems damaged by logging and other forms of development;</li>
<li>
cripple Endangered Species recovery efforts;</li>
<li>
prohibit the Forest Service from spending funds to manage and enforce off-road vehicle use on our national forests -- unmanaged ORV use was recognized by the Bush administration as one of the top threats to forests;</li>
<li>
drastically reduce, by nearly 50%, crucial funding for the Forest Service to improve drinking water by removing old, unused logging roads from our forests and maintaining needed roads and trails.</li>
</ul>
<p>
Meanwhile, the bill leaves untouched $4 billion in annual oil, gas and coal subsidies! That&rsquo;s a reckless approach to budgeting, and it&rsquo;s exactly why we need a new, better blueprint for budgeting in Washington: The Green Budget. This is a critical moment for everyone who supports our wild lands to demand a budget that works for wilderness, for our public health, and for our economy.</p>
<p>
Please, tell your senators to oppose the 2011 House spending bill. <a href="https://secure.wilderness.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&amp;page=UserAction&amp;id=2239" target="_blank">Click here to send your letter.</a></p>
<p>
<strong>Photo:</strong> Icicle Canyon in the Wenatchee Forest, Washington. Courtesy USFS.</p>
</div></div></div>Fri, 04 Mar 2011 23:38:03 +0000104485 at http://wilderness.orghttp://wilderness.org/blog/no-more-slash-and-burn-budgeting-green-budget-takes-smarter-approach#comments